Vote up a Fantasy Setting

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Ji ji

If I would think of a setting with the latter races, I would exclude some of the former. I don't like inconsistent lists of races.

So you would exclude platypodes from a setting with birds and beasts? ;)

[Ji ji]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

So you would exclude platypodes from a setting with birds and beasts? ;)

No, I don't.
I would avoid a setting with genasis (because there's elemental planes), shadowmen (because there's a shadow plane), elves (because they come from Faeria), serpent-men and nagas (because sarrukh created them), mind-flayer (because there's a madness plane), devils (because there's inferno plane), demons (because there's another different sort of inferno), dryder (because Llolth blah blah blah), avariel (because elves are cool, and winged elves are cool+++), dark elves (because elves are cool, and dark ones are cool+++++), blackwinged dark elves (because they're cool+++++++++).

I don't like a setting where there're races build on evolutive concepts side by side with oddities like two-headed giants or people similar to men but with evolutively unexplicable features like switchable ironclaws. I like both pathways, but I don't like savage merging. Walter Moers' setting of Zamonien is amazing, and it's different from MZB's or Tolkien's; all these three are consistent one by one, and merging atmospheres is not a good idea to me.

I don't like generalistic setting where there's a place for gothic atmosphere, one other for Japanese fairy-tales, one for caricatural flying gnomes and so on. Mediocre for everything, good at nothing.
Just my idea, of course :)

[samd6]

I vote for more races, specifically human cultures, spirits, and talking beasts. I don't think we need more humanoids.

[combatmedic]

Those are all valid points, guys.


I am inclined towards the 'fairy tale' list that Ji Ji gave, or something like it.

The Mohani live 'in deep forests on the southern continent', according to the designer's notes. They might be a far-away, exotic race. Or not.

I am more interested in humans (which coiuld include cultural lenses for humans, Edman), talking beasts, and spirits than in a lot of new monster/other types or humanoids.
But I do like the cenocroca, elves, and dwarves.

[Joe]

I vote yes, for more races.

I agree with Ji Li in wanting to avoid having a random grab-bag of races from many different sub-genres of fantasy.

Focusing on developing more human races, or just human cultural lenses, strikes me as a good way to avoid this problem.

[Edman]

Originally Posted by Joe

Focusing on developing more human races, or just human cultural lenses, strikes me as a good way to avoid this problem.

But why does it have to be human cultural lenses? I like the idea of having cultural values that supercede race, and that Northern humans, mohani and biggams share a common culture. It makes for a more integrated world.

[Johnny Angel]

Originally Posted by Edman

But why does it have to be human cultural lenses? I like the idea of having cultural values that supercede race, and that Northern humans, mohani and biggams share a common culture. It makes for a more integrated world.

I mostly support this idea. While I do think there are times/places where a racial culture still does make sense (Mohani being a racial culture makes sense if they live somewhat apart from other races,) I like the idea that the races of a particular region would have things common amongst themselves and the culture of that particular region. Perhaps each region could have a core culture, and then there could be a cultural lense of sort which might modify that core culture in some instances where racial attitudes have enough of an influence to change what the more common culture is. The lenses being used only when the racial attitudes are strong enough to cause a significant difference to the overall culture common to a region.

[ericthered]

Cultural Lenses and races...

This leads to some interesting questions:

can humans and Biggams interbreed? Its implied biggams used to be human, but my first instinct would say no.

What is a Biggam centaur like? Its a little strange to imagine.

[Joe]

Originally Posted by Edman

But why does it have to be human cultural lenses? I like the idea of having cultural values that supercede race, and that Northern humans, mohani and biggams share a common culture. It makes for a more integrated world.

Fair enough - that sounds good to me.

[combatmedic]

I don't have a problem with specific cultural lenses, but I'm not keen on 'desert culture' or 'northern culture.'

Nor am I fond of completely separating 'race' and 'culture.'
I want to avoid the 'elves are humans with pointy ears' syndrome.

But if Edman has specific ideas in mind, like a region in which Biggams and Men live in integrated communities, I'm definitely interested.


What do you guys think about a 'Realms Submissions' thread and poll? This would be for kingdoms, cities, territories, etc. in capsule descriptions.


Or should we do a map submissions thread first, to establish the basic geography of the campaign setting (not the whole planet, just a chunk of one continent and some islands, maybe)?
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